$60 Million Approved for Tech/Biotech Industry in New Jersey

13 Dec, 2013

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) has announced that 54 companies have been approved to share the $60 million allocation available through the state’s Technology Business Tax Certificate Transfer (NOL) Program in Fiscal Year 2014.

This competitive program enables technology and biotechnology companies to sell New Jersey tax losses and/or research and development tax credits to raise cash to finance their growth and operations.Since the program was established in 1999, more than 490 different businesses have been approved for awards totaling $770 million. Each of the 54 applicants approved this year will receive an estimated $1.1 million which is a 21 percent increase from last year.

Administered by the EDA and the Department of Treasury’s Division of Taxation, New Jersey-based technology or biotechnology companies with fewer than 225 U.S. employees may be eligible to sell net operating losses and research and development tax credits to unrelated profitable corporations for at least 80 percent of their value, up to a maximum lifetime benefit of $15 million per business.

Companies that benefited this year include: New Brunswick-based Connotate, Inc., a tech company whose aim is to be the best in the world at Web data extraction and monitoring; Princeton Power Systems in Princeton, a designer and manufacturer of technology products for energy management, micro-grid operations and electric vehicle charging; Eagle Pharmaceuticals, a Woodcliff Lake-based pharmaceutical company which develops improved formulations of injectable products. Eagle has a development portfolio in excess of 15 products and currently has one marketed drug; their pipeline provides benefits to the healthcare community at large; and Agilence Inc., of Mount Laurel, an industry leader in the technology behind reporting solutions for retail loss prevention and operations.

“The NOL Program continues to be the most popular and the most effective support for these early stage companies,” says Michele A. Brown, CEO of the EDA.“The Christie Administration understands that the success of the state’s greater technology industry is fundamentally tied to the growth of New Jersey’s economy. These companies have been able to raise capital and build their businesses in New Jersey as a result of this innovative program. This is exactly the kind of vital support this sector needs.”